Johann Löwenthal

Chessmetrics Ranking: highest world number two at the turn of 1858-1859

Tournament Career: winner of two super-tournaments:

Manchester 1857 chess tournament

Birmingham 1858 chess tournament

Matches: Löwenthal vs Hamppe 5:4

  Löwenthal vs Williams 7:5 (=4)

What earned him this:

Another of the great Hungarian masters, Johann Löwenthal was at the absolute peak of his powers at the end of the 1850s, but he remained among the broader elite for much longer. He excelled in matches and managed to win two strongly contested tournaments played in a knockout format. Winning two strong tournaments at a time when there were very few is an excellent achievement. Moreover, on his way to these two victories, he did not defeat any nameless players. His victims included Horwitz, Bird, Owen Staunton, and even Anderssen himself.

Löwenthal was a feared opponent in all formats, including matches, in which he was very successful. The only opponent he was unable to overcome (but he was certainly not alone in this) was the American Paul Morphy, against whom he won three times, drew twice, and lost nine times in their mutual match. Nevertheless, he was one of the handful of players who were at least competitive opponents for Morphy. The Hungarian master was a longtime friend of Morphy, and they shared mutual respect and admiration. For example, Morphy endorsed a collection of his games compiled and published by Löwenthal, making it appear as if it was written by the American himself.

The personal life of Johann Löwenthal was interesting in that he was exiled from his homeland because he linked his political career with Lajos Kossuth during the revolutions in Europe in 1848-1849. After the political downfall of this man, he had to emigrate and settled permanently in the United States.

Best Games:

Paul Morphy vs Johann Löwenthal

London 1858